Grimaldi to Start Irl UK Spain

[giftgrub]

Hope it's a better boat than Brittany Ferries one

Just curious...what's wrong with it? I've been on the Cork–Roscoff run (Pont Aven) and it was pretty good, certainly better than anything else ex Ireland at the moment.

Possibly referring to Connemara which is the other BF vessel at the moment until the Kerry starts service, the Connemara operates year round.

Pont Aven will be off service for three months from January for a refit and engine replacement in Gdańsk.

Still nothing on Port of Cork website and ferry named for service still operational in Korea and no longer owned by rumored partners.

[Steven]

She'll be on the Portsmouth - St Malo run over the winet I presume.

Depends how long it takes to fix her up after her engine fire!

https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/new-cork-spain-ferry-could-17013263?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

A spokesperson for the Port of Cork company told CorkBeo they have not yet had an official approach from the promoters of the new ferry route; "But we would welcome additional routes from Cork as a very positive development".

Another interesting thing about that article is that Spanish media haven't mentioned GNV at all! 

Hope it's a better boat than Brittney Ferries one

Don't hold your breath on that one.  AF MICHELA isn't exactly known for being luxurious by Northern European standards!

Interestingly there's nothing for Cork on the BF timetable after November 4th at present! 

Nor would you expect there to be: that's when they stop operating for the winter.  It's not a year-round service.

Cork to Santander is year round!  If it wasn't how could they reasonably expect to build up a meaningful freight trade?

https://www.multimodal.org.uk/article/new-winter-ferry-between-cork-and-spain

Online sailings now dropped even earlier on the supposed year round service.  Strangely an option to book by phone has appeared over the past week or so, however.  https://www.brittanyferries.ie/ferry-routes/ireland-spain-ferries/cork-santander/timetable

Hope it's a better boat than Brittany Ferries one

Just curious...what's wrong with it? I've been on the Cork–Roscoff run (Pont Aven) and it was pretty good, certainly better than anything else ex Ireland at the moment.

Possibly referring to Connemara which is the other BF vessel at the moment until the Kerry starts service, the Connemara operates year round.

Pont Aven will be off service for three months from January for a refit and engine replacement in Gdańsk.

Still nothing on Port of Cork website and ferry named for service still operational in Korea and no longer owned by rumored partners.

As of a couple of days ago no specific vessel had been chosen.  They weren't even 100% sure what sort of capacity they were aiming for though had a rough idea of 150 passengers and 2000lm and a vessel length of about 200m.  Thats from the people behind the route, which is actually the port management company in Gijon.   Grimaldi would appear to simply be their tonnage provider of choice.  The only link I can find to GNV is the rumoured vessel mentioned above was managed by them for a short period a number of years ago before it was sold to a Chinese concern while on a China to Korea route (which she is still sailing on, despite reports of her being "on her way").  Having read an interview with them their main target appears to be the existing Spain to UK services as there is a potential to save lorry miles due to Gijon being closer to many places in Spain and Portugal than Santander or Bilbao.  It would very much be a freight orientated route (unsurprisingly).  Cork would be a stop, but there's no detail on whether it would be a Gijon - Cork - Plymouth - Cork - Gijon route, or a triangular service (or some sort of variation).  There has been some speculation online that there may be a trade car contract or two involved, but the impression I got was the main target was the existing UK - Spain freight trade, which Brittany Ferries would appearing to be doing quite well out of.  There could be advantages in also having the link between Cork and Plymouth in both directions of course, especially for unaccompanied traffic if the space in port (and any potential customs controls) allow.  It does seem a tad optimistic to get things up and running by early 2020 though, never mind next month though!  They'll need a ship and some port agreements for a start!!!!

[awaityourreply]

More on proposed links between Vigo, Spain/Cork, Ireland/Plymouth, England route which could commence services in 2020.

"Our idea is to compete with prices and duration of the trip with Santander and Bilbao and also with the plane to London on trips to the United Kingdom from Vigo," said Javier Castro, advisor of Incargo, the company that manages the Atlantic Terminal Vigo, yesterday. and that also takes the ferry project from Bouzas to Plymouth, in the southwest of England, with an earlier stop in Cork, in Ireland. A ship that would be both for goods and for transporting trucks and also for passengers who want to travel to Britain with their own car. "

..."the ship that will make the itinerary will be about 200 meters long and will reach 24 knots of speed. It is estimated to make the journey between 24 and 28 hours."

..."It will transport trucks, for 800 euros, and passengers, with a cost of 350 euros for two people with a tour, in both cases round-trip tickets. On the other hand, aspects such as the frequency of trips are still undefined, although there are three departures a week from Vigo. If it goes well it would expand. "It is designed for the tourist offer in Galicia, but also for the British community in northern Portugal,"

"We have a lot of work left and we still can't say which days will be the departures or the schedules or the fixed time that the cruise will take because we have to see the characteristics of the ship, although we contemplate combining trucks, tourism and passengers, with about 200 trucks and 150 passengers. We are still working on the characteristics of the ship that is less suited to the line, "said Javier Castro. In any case, it would be a Grimaldi ship of about 200 meters. "The Grimaldi shipping company is committed to Vigo and this project. Being optimistic it could be at the end of the year but I think rather at the beginning of 2020," Castro said. "The trip would be like a small one-day cruise," he says.

Quoted from below article source:
https://www.atlantico.net/articulo/vigo/vigo-competira-santander-bilbao-ferry-plymouth/20191001051013732276.html

[Steven]

The latest twist is Grimaldi Lines have not only denied any involvement but also stated they have never heard of this project!  The people promoting it themselves have also said GNV have no involvement.  They are refusing to give details of the specific company which will be providing the tonnage. 

[awaityourreply]

Yes, it does seem rather strange if a shipping line was mentioned by name without their prior consent which led to the shipping line having to subsequently deny any involvement in such a venture. Certainly not the way to conduct matters in a professional manner and it could harm any future projects if the shipping company in question does not think that discussions would be kept fully confidential at all times. Not sure why this so called "project" would be made known to the public if they are unable/not in a position to disclose the basics.

In view of Grimaldi Lines denial of any involvement in such a project, perhaps their name should be removed by the OP or moderator from the title used in this particular thread?

[Steven]

Yes, it does seem rather strange if a shipping line was mentioned by name without their prior consent which led to the shipping line having to subsequently deny any involvement in such a venture. Certainly not the way to conduct matters in a professional manner and it could harm any future projects if the shipping company in question does not think that discussions would be kept fully confidential at all times. Not sure why this so called "project" would be made known to the public if they are unable/not in a position to disclose the basics.

In view of Grimaldi Lines denial of any involvement in such a project, perhaps their name should be removed by the OP or moderator from the title used in this particular thread?

It seems someone called Grimaldi may be involved, just not the Grimaldi we all automatically associate with the name.  The machine translation wasn't great, but it was clear that neither Grimaldi Lines or GNV are involved.  Time will tell how viable this project is, but it's starting to look like a port management company (Who are the only company confirmed to be behind this) wanting to increase traffic. 

At the end of the day there's no port agreement with Cork and it appears no agreement with Plymouth either.

[awaityourreply]

As we are almost into the month of February, I was just wondering if there were any subsequent developments or updates to report since the previous post on this thread last October ? I gather it's a highly unlikely proposition despite positive spin put on it!